INSTITUTE INDEX: Will Southern governors sacrifice their economies by seceding from the Medicaid expansion?

Of 29 studies that looked at the economic impact of Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for low-income Americans, percent that found Medicaid spending has a positive impact on state economies: 100

Rank of Medicaid among the largest sources of federal funds for states: 1

Amount Mississippi appropriated to Medicaid in fiscal year 2012: $819.3 million

Amount Mississippi drew down from the federal government for its program as a result: $2.4 billion

Amount that spending generated in salaries in Mississippi: $2.365 billion

Amount that spending added to Mississippi's general fund: $156.6 million

Rank of Mississippi among the states that would see the largest influx of federal funding from the Medicaid expansion that's part of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare": 1

Rank of Medicaid among the greatest economic development engines for Mississippi, according to a state representative who's considered one of the legislature's leading experts on the program: 1